The 20 worst A-Braves players: #17 Brad Komminsk

There was considerable excitement about Brad Komminsk‘s arrival, and why not. The 22-year-old dominated Triple-A pitching in 1983, batting .334 with 24 HR, 26 SB, 78 BB and only 70K’s, good for a 1.029 OPS. He was as can’t miss as they come.

But miss he did. Badly. He hit just .203 in ’84 with a .592 OPS and wasn’t much better in ’85, batting a punchless .227. He spent most of ’86 at Richmond, where he struggled mightily before mercifully being dealt to Milwaukee for Dion James (a coup, in retrospect).

Komminsk ended up with 642 AB’s as a Brave, equivalent to one full season, and hit .217 with 12 HR, a .297 OBP and .319 slugging percentage. He defines “bust.”

With Komminsk dominating from the cleanup slot, I figured Dale Murphy would be a Triple Crown threat and we would walk away with the division. But 1984 turned out to be the beginning of the Second Dark Age.

Komminsk could not hit even a mediocre breaking pitch. His swing was a parody. He did manage a grand slam to win a game, as I recall. We didn’t hit many grand slams (still don’t).

Not that I remember Komminsk very well, but I do remember the comparisons that were made between him and Scott Thorman. Could hit AAA super, but when he got to the majors, stinkerooni. The traditional AAAA player if there ever was one, right?

It is just great to hear all this. Ok, a mediocre ball player, batted .200— My father must be living under a rock not to know this. All his, “You could have been in the big Leagues because your classmate was..” kind of crapn always from him . Brad was a big hotshot in my high school. Yes, My High School’s Shawnee High School in Lima, Ohio’s) claim to fame- Brad was a classmate of mine, but never somoene I could even talk to or even sit with at Lunch.. One had to “earn”, the right to talk to Brad Komminsk… And now this: Ha ha ha., finally.

[…] minor-league numbers (.380 OBP, .489 SLG, 230 home runs, 900+ RsBI) never translated—which Braves fans acknowledge. The Giants were his fourth team. He gathered one hit, a single, and one walk in five at […]

Brad didn’t have a hall of fame career as a player but I wouldve like to seen him get a chance to manage because he wouldve been a good motivator because his love for the game. The best managers are the guys that didnt have great stats as a player Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Tony Larussa just to name a few that were mediocre ball players but great managers. Brad was a coach and manager at the minor league level but never given the shot at the big time I didnt know if he had the connections to get there are not .